ANDRUS CAPTAIN_TRANSLATOR CAPTAIN_TRANSLATOR_VO CAPT_ERIC_BROWN COL_AMEN CORP_OF_GUARD CRONKITE DOCTOR_PFLUECKER DR_LATTIMER GILBERT GLENNY GOERING GOERING_VO GRAVEN GUARD HARRIS JACKSON JOHNSON JOHN_ANDRUS NARRATOR NEAVE PERSICO PFLUECKER POOLE SAMULEVITCH SENTINEL SENTINEL_JOHNSON SONNENFELDT SONNENFELDT_JEUNE SOUS_TITRE VOICE_OVER WHEELIS WHEELIS_JEUNE VOICE OVER In 1977, an American Colonel, Burton C. Andrus lay dying, haunted by his past. GOERING VO Ich hatte Sie ohne weitere Umstande mich erschieBen lassen! SOUS TITRE I would have no objection to being shot. VOICE OVER After World War Two, Andrus had been the jailer of the Nazi Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goering. His job, to deliver Goering to allied justice at the Nuremberg Trial. SOUS TITRE ... I will not facilitate execution of Germany's Reichsmarschall by hanging! VOICE OVER But Andrus found himself caught in a duel of mind games with the charismatic, manipulative Nazi. A duel that led him to the very heart of Nazi atrocity and a recurring nightmare in which he re-lived his anguished fears that Goering would escape the justice he deserved. JOHNSON There's something wrong with Goering! Get a Medic quick! Hurry! ANDRUS I must inform the Commission... Goering has committed suicide! NARRATOR In May 1945, as the war in Europe ended I, Colonel Burton C Andrus, was charged with a mission that could make or break allied justice against the Nazis - and my own reputation.' I was to be the Jailer of a group of men accused of the most horrible crimes ever witnessed by mankind. Hitler, had wriggled off the hook by committing suicide in his Berlin bunker. But his chosen heir Hermann Goering, the Reichsmarschall of Nazi Germany, had surrendered. He was the allies biggest prize. On him Nazi guilt was to be pinned. It was up to me and me alone to keep him alive to face justice in the historic Nuremberg trial. HARRIS There had never been a trial of those Individuals who started an aggressive war In the history of mankind. And... this was an opportunity to take a great step forward for humanity. NARRATOR When Goering surrendered, he expected to be treated as a major world figure. He was the second highest ranking Nazi and commander of the Luftwaffe, the German air force. To their eternal shame, some American Air Force Officers had wined and dined him. I was disgusted. So too was General Eisenhower. He ordered Goering to be treated as the gangster and criminal he was. Goering was stripped of his medals and soon found himself packed off to Mondorf detention camp in Luxembourg. It was there that I first laid eyes on him. ANDRUS Enter. NARRATOR Little did I know that this first meeting would be the start of an extraordinary duel between us. GOERING VO Ich bin Hermann Goering. Reichsfeldmarschall des Grossdeutschen Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe; Ich verlange eine Audienz mit General Eisenhower! SOUS TITRE I am Hermann Goering. Reichsfeldmarschall of the great German State; Chief of the Air Force and former President of the Reichstag; I am to be granted an audience with General Eisenhower! ANDRUS Quiet! You are now my prisoner, Herr Goering. You will speak when you are spoken to. CAPTAIN TRANSLATOR VO Ruhe! Sie sind jetzt mein Gefangener, Herr Goering. Sie sprechen nur dann, wenn Sie angesprochen werden. GUARD Sir, I think you should see this. ANDRUS Herr Goering, what are these? CAPTAIN TRANSLATOR VO Herr GOERING, was ist das? GOERING VO Das sind Paracodin-Tabletten, fur mein Herz. Ich muss jeweils morgens und abends 20 davon einnehmen. CAPTAIN TRANSLATOR They are paracodene tablets… for my heart. I need to take 20 in the morning and 20 at night... ANDRUS Twenty! GOERING ... I need them for my heart! ANDRUS You speak English... GOERING Of course. We Germans are cultured people. ANDRUS That'll be all Herr Goering. NARRATOR Goering had arrived in my custody a bloated drug addict, weighing 2641bs. But what struck me were his painted fingernails. They instantly brought to mind all the stories about the overblown Reichsmarshall's bizarre lifestyle at his luxurious country estate, Karinhall. DR LATTIMER He would do all sorts of weird things. For example In his big estate out east of Berlin, he had a lion cub. And Goering would let that lion cub come In and stand In front of Goering and put his paws up on his shoulders as he sat there and eat things out of his mouth...But Goering loved that you know and It got him attention. NARRATOR But there were uglier rumours. In the final years of the war after Goering had lost favour with Hitler he shut himself away at Karinhall. It was said he behaved like a Roman Emperor escaping into his closed world of hunting, drugs and depravity. A fellow Nazi, the Jew-baiting Julius Striecher claimed that Goering was impotent and that his only daughter was artificially conceived. The rumour mill was stoked. Visiting Generals and diplomats reported that Goering greeted them clad in a kimono, wearing make-up and jewels. Allied propagandists made fun of him. What I didn't understand, was how this puffed-up degenerate had become such a powerful force in a Nazi regime which prided itself on purity and clean living. PERSICO Andrus had nothing but contempt for Goering, he thought him, soft, a sybarite. He at one time maintained that he used rouge, he used make up, he used lipstick...Well the Colonel... took one look at this bloated self-indulgent man who was a drug addict and determined that he was going to shape him up. NARRATOR Whatever the truth about this make-up wearing Nazi, I put my own disgust from my mind. My job was to guard him and to keep him in a fit mental and physical state for trial. I sent a sample of Goering's drugs to the FBI's Narcotics Bureau. We were told to reduce his intake by a tablet a day. This was how to wean 'the fat man' as we called him, off his drugs... Goering was going to be trouble. To keep him in hand I had to know how he ticked. I'd make it my business to understand the contradictions within this man. For one, Goering had been a genuine hero. He was an outstanding Fighter Ace of the first world war...He had flown with Von Richthofen. The Red Baron and was made Commander of the famed Flying Circus...when the Baron was killed...Goering was just 25. He had shot down 21 aircraft and was awarded the coveted Blue Max. After Germany's surrender, Goering's commanders ordered him to hand over his squadron. He told them to go to hell, and destroyed his aircraft. He became a German legend...And yet this was how the most important living face of Nazi evil had ended up - a blubbery effeminate joke! We now had the responsibility to show the world how Goering and the Nazi regime he stood for had committed their horrible crimes. It would be the most important trial in legal history! JOHN ANDRUS My Father realized that It was a world changing event that they were Involved In here, one that was very Important not just to the Americans but to the whole allied forces and to the world down the road...So I think my dad saw that very clearly, that this was a chance for humanity to really get a handle on warfare possibly? NARRATOR Goering had surrendered with sixteen monogrammed suitcases and a red hat box… Among this treasure trove of vanity, my men found an extraordinary haul of personal jewelry....There were emerald rings and diamond set watches and a pharmacy of creams and potions... But what worried me most was whether Goering had smuggled in the means to kill himself. Hitler, Goerbels, and Himmler had all committed suicide to avoid capture. On no account could Goering be next! GUARD Sergeant, look at this. NARRATOR The top Nazi's were issued potassium cyanide. Goering's hidden vial was enough to bring death to a dozen men... DR LATTIMER He had one in a box of coffee crystals that he let us find right away, so we thought we'd found it. You know so everybody relaxed, we'd found it! No he was very clever, very good at this! NARRATOR During his first days of captivity, the doctors removed one pill from Goering's dose each morning. He didn't notice as he swallowed them down in handfuls. Only when we had reduced the number to 16 did he realize our deceit. GOERING VO Was ist das? Was haben Sie getan? Ich will einen Arzt... Ich habe starke Kopfschmerzen... Kein Wunder! SOUS TITRE What is this ? What have you done? I want to see the doctor... I have a bad headache...No wonder! GOERING I thought we'd never need a long range Euro-bomber... NARRATOR In these early weeks allied interrogators were most interested in finding out, how the war was won and lost. Among those who got in to interview Goering was British Pilot and aviation expert, Captain Eric Brown. GOERING I didn't think that it would ever be necessary to have the long-range Eurobombers... CAPT ERIC BROWN His attitude when I was there was like a guy on a kamikaze trip. He was prepared to accept all the blame for what he had done. And I had the feeling that this guy's not going to be executed. He's got a way out… I just had that feeling In my mind! ANDRUS Enter? CAPTAIN TRANSLATOR Sir, Goering has written to General Eisenhower. ANDRUS So what does the fat-man have to say? NARRATOR My regime was beginning to rattle Goering. He railed all sorts of petty complaints about how I was mistreating him. CAPTAIN TRANSLATOR Of my toilet articles I have only a sponge, soap and toothbrush.. I feel most grievously the military humiliation because my medals including those of 1914-18, as well as my Marshal's baton, were taken from me... NARRATOR Goering's letter fell on deaf ears. Eisenhower was not going to give an inch to the captured Nazi's. Nor was I. In a few days time I would transfer with all the prisoners to Nuremberg in Germany. My regime in the jail there would be tough. The days of drugs and decadence for Hermann Goering were over. On the 12th of August 1945 I, colonel Burton C Andrus, oversaw the transfer of the senior Nazi's in my custody to prison in Nuremberg - the city whose name would come to stand for allied justice. It was a roll call of tyranny: Speer, the smooth architect who became Minister for war; Von Ribbentrop - Champagne salesman turned Foreign Minister - Kaltenbrunner, Himmler's deputy in the SS; Keitel, Army Chief of Staff and Hitler's poodle - Frank, Streicher, Doenitz Hess and Goering - the top surviving leaders of the Nazi regime. Whatever I thought of these men, it was my duty to deliver them fit and well into the hands of justice. JOHN ANDRUS I think that my father had a great deal of disdain for all of them. They, represented to him human failure of the worst kind, where human beings, maybe from their own weaknesses or their own faults...do such horrible things to other human beings ...And I think that he saw that In most of them but, he still treated them as human beings. NARRATOR Nuremberg was a deeply symbolic choice for the allies to stage their trial. Seppellin field was the showplace of National Socialism. The city had been host to the annual rallies of the Nazi party in the 1930's and gave its name to their infamous anti-semitic laws. Now the stadium was deserted and the city lay in ruins. SONNENFELDT There was a sea of total destruction. There was still the smell of cordite of dynamite and burned out bodies. And one vivid image that I have Is, I was smoking In those days and I tossed a cigarette from my Jeep and three German women dove for that cigarette butt like - birds do when you throw them a crumb of bread. But that was Nuremberg In 1945. NARRATOR Churchill had wanted the top Nazis shot without trial. The Soviet leader, Stalin had wanted a show trial and executions; But the Americans argued this was an opportunity to create international laws against acts of aggressive war. A view which won out. President Truman then appointed Chief Justice Robert H Jackson to lead the prosecution team. The allies were creating the first international court of law. HARRIS If there was going to be a trail, Justice Jackson said, then It must be a real trial, It must be a genuine trial. We must accord these defendants the full right of their defense. They must know the charges raised against them. We're not going to engage In any show trial at all". And he made that very clear from the outset and ...so he set a very high tone for the trial. NARRATOR I wanted my prison regime to be as correct and well-ordered as the judicial process. I also wished to have no secrets from the world outside and was happy to brief journalists. CRONKITE Colonel Andrus who ran the jail had a great responsibility. It was a new job because he was answering to all four of the nations who were Involved, and they each had their own Ideas of security. So Colonel Andrus had a rough one. But he was a very genial fellow, I liked him a lot. I thought he was a grand man. NARRATOR Guard duty at Nuremberg was not a popular posting - I had a very high turnover in staff. The guards thought the work boring and repetitious - but I had to impress on my men the need for iron self-discipline and tireless vigilance. I knew some of them thought me a martinet - but it was the only way to get the job done. SAMULEVITCH He was always aloof, he'd come through with the swagger stick and look at this and look at that like, you know, he's royalty coming through there... and of course we didn't care about him one way or the other. NARRATOR There was to be no talking between prisoners and guards. Lunch was at noon, supper at six. On Tuesday and Friday the prisoners took a shower. In the evenings they could read or work until 9.30pm. Then it was lights out and the night door spotlight was switched on. And all the time, the prisoners were watched by my sentinels... GLENNY The colonel's strict. You know he's a very strict man he 1 s going to go by the book. He wasn't a very well-liked man. The prisoners at night when they sleep a light will be shined In the cell and they111 sleep facing the light. They're not allowed to turn away from the light. They're not allowed to put their hands underneath the blankets and he said these rules will be followed. If they're not you will be Court Marshalled. And I'm saying to myself how are you gonna follow all these rules, It's a little ridiculous. NARRATOR After breakfast at 7.00am, each prisoner was responsible for cleaning his cell. In cell no.5 was Goering. As I'd weaned him off his pills the flab had melted away and the addled mind had cleared. What I didn't realize was that I'd also made him fit to be my adversary! PERSICO There Is an Irony there and It Is this. Hermann Goering was an extremely bright man - an honor graduate of the German equivalent of Sandhurst or West Point and so as he's weaned from his drug habit as he's placed under the Colonel's demands, the Intellectual power that he possesses comes back roaring ! NARRATOR In the early interrogations, the allies' interest was still in trying to understand more about the Nazis. Not surprisingly Goering was the big draw. Over a series of interviews more of his extraordinary life-story began to emerge... POOLE Would you mind telling me how you first met Hitler? GOERING VO Als hochdekorierter Flieger hatte ich nach dem Weltkrieg noch einen gewissen Ruf... NARRATOR Goering described how as a much decorated flyer he could bring respectability to Hilter's party. He had first met Hitler in 1922 when he went to hear him speak out against the treaty of Versailles at a cafe in Munich. The hated treaty had brought shame and punishment to Germany after the surrender of the First World War. The next day Goering pledged himself to Hitler and the National Socialist cause. GOERING I shook his hand and told him...I unite my faith with yours. I dedicate myself to you in good times and bad, even unto death! NARRATOR Goering recalled his role as commander of Hitler's private army - the SA Brownshirts - and of their attempt to overthrow the Bavarian Government in 1923. In the ensuing riot Goering was badly injured by a stray bullet. He said he was saved by two Jewish sisters who took care of him in their home. After that, nursing his injury, Goering fled the country. That's when he first became addicted to morphine. The sessions confirmed Goering's importance in the early days of the Nazi's. He was proud of it. He felt important again! GOERING And one more thing gentlemen… and lady, the Jewish sisters that saved my life, I later got them both out of Germany with all their money in 1938... I bet they don't mention that in the trial! NARRATOR The trial date was set for November the 20th. The palace of Justice buzzed with carpenters, plasterers and plumbers re-building and fitting out the courtroom. Pretrial interrogations now took on a sterner tone as the prosecution team assembled their evidence to make the charges against the Nazi's stick. SONNENFELDT My first feelings about meeting Goering were frankly feelings of a little apprehension because he had the reputation of Intimidating Interpreters.. . NARRATOR Private Sonnenfeldt, the interpreter for Chief Interrogator Col John Amen was a fresh-faced twenty-two year old. He was also a German Jew who had fled from the Nazis'. COL AMEN Sit down please. Do you Hermann Goering swear that what you are a about to say will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? GOERING VO Eins will ich wissen, stehe ich vor dem Richter? SOUS TITRE I want to know am I before the Judge? SONNENFELDT At which point Goering Interrupted and said - I want to know am I before the judge? He said that In German. And Amen said to me COL AMEN Come here... Don't let this turkey intimidate you, straighten him out! SONNENFELDT So here I was a private first class face to face with Hermann Goering who had been the highest ranking officer In the German Army - and I was to straighten him out. And I remembered an old German joke that I had heard when I was a child, where Goering was referred to as Gering, which Is a German word which means paltry, little nothing ! And I said to him... SONNENFELDT Herr Gering, when I speak to you : don't interrupt me. When I am finished and you have any difficulty with my language you can tell me about it and I will then decide whether it's worthwhile to correct it. But otherwise you just keep quiet. Herr Gering, wenn ich mit Ihnen rede, haben Sie mich nicht zu unterbrechen. Wenn ich fertig bin und Sie Verstandisschwierigkeiten haben, konnen Sie mir das mitteilen und ich entscheide dann, ob eine Korrektur angebracht ist. Ansonsten haben Sie zu schweigen. SONNENFELDT "Her Gering when I speak you don't Interrupt me. When I am finished and you have any difficulty with my language you can tell me about It and I will then decide whether It's worthwhile to correct It." COL AMEN First of all... GOERING VO Mein Name ist nicht Gering. Mein Name ist Goering. SOUS TITRE My name is not Gering. My name is Goering. SONNENFELDT And I said I'll make a deal with you, If you don't Interrupt me again I will not call you Gering again." At which point he had a big smile on his face because he realised he was the chief defendant, Col Amen was the chief Interrogator, and I was the chief Interpreter, so everything was In order now. . . GOERING ...What are you going to do? Shoot me? Tell me that. What are you going to do? I'm the Reichsfeldmarshall of Germany!... SENTINEL Fetch the Medic, Goering's collapsed! ANDRUS Dr what happened? PFLUECKER Sir, after breakfast Goering was given a mop and pail and ordered to clean his cell... Well, Goering didn't like this and flew into a rage. ANDRUS Did he now? PFLUECKER He got himself so worked up he collapsed again with tachycardia. Nearly three hundred beats a minute. I've given him a shot and now he's resting. He's ok. ANDRUS He didn't like this. He didn't like to clean his cell! Who the hell does he think he is? PFLUECKER Sir... Goering needs to rest, not get himself worked up or carry out strenuous tasks. It could lead to heart failure. ANDRUS Alright. Thank you Doctor. NARRATOR Goering had pushed me into an impossible position. He knew I had to keep him alive and that I couldn't take the risk he was faking. I was forced to concede and a Pow was assigned to clean his cell... NARRATOR Mastery of the prison was going to be a battle of wills between us. By September 1945 the gathering of evidence against the Nazi leaders was well underway. As Commandant of the Jail I, colonel Andrus began by keeping the prisoners in solitary confinement. But as time passed I was persuaded that exercise would help them let off steam. Like everything else, I set out rules: only 20 minutes each day; no sitting down, no picking anything up and no talking. GOERING Gentlemen, we are prisoners for one reason only. We lost the war. We fought for the German people and someday a grateful nation will honour us… Meine Herren, wir sind nur aus einem einzigen Grund Gefangene hier. Wir haben den Krieg verloren. Wir haben fur das deutsche Volk gekampft und eines Tages wird uns eine dankbare Nation dafiir ehren... NARRATOR Goering I later learned flaunted these rules openly, seizing his chance to cast his spell over his partners in crime. My guards were far too green. They were intimidated by these Nazis'. GLENNY We had guards right around and nobody said anything and you know this Is against the rules. So I went along with the guards. I 'm not the only one, so they just let them talk no problem. NARRATOR The authority and charisma that had eased Goering's rapid rise to power was plain to see. After Hitler, Goering had been the most glamorous and popular Nazi. But behind his charm lay an absolute ruthlessness. He was a key architect of the whole Nazi plan. In 1932 when the Party won the largest block of seats in the Reichstag - the German parliament, Goering became its President. With his aristocratic connections, he helped to persuade President Hindenberg to appoint Hitler, Chancellor. That night Goering and Hitler stood watching the torchlight victory parade of the SA through the streets of Berlin. Three months later the Reichstag went up in flames. Goering seized the opportunity to impose an emergency police state. He arrested all political opponents. He replaced Judges and Lawyers with Nazis - and he engineered the pillars of Nazi oppression, the Gestapo the secret police and the concentration camps, for enemies of the state. In the 1930's Goering was in charge of building Germany's war economy. Forced labor operated the vast Hermann Goering Works. The Luftwaffe was massively expanded and prepared for war. But the most terrible crime perpetrated by the Nazi's would turn out to be against the Jews. At the 5th Party Conference in 1935 Goering stepped up to announce the laws that would set the Nazi's on the path to the holocaust. SONNENFELDT I was born Into a Jewish family but my father had been an officer In the Kaiser1 s army. Our feelings were very German...but with the coming of the Nuremberg laws we realized that we had to leave Germany... My father was one of those who was scooped up and put Into a Concentration Camp. He went to Buchenwald. And he was released without explanation, three weeks later, returned home and It was a great mystery why...And In our search for documentation at the Nuremberg Trial I came across an order from Goering that all Jews who had military decorations were to be released from concentration camp. And I mentioned that to him one day and I said to him. . SONNENFELDT You always claim you had absolutely no power over putting people into concentration camp, then how do you explain that you had the power to get them released? SONNENFELDT “how Is It that you could get people out of concentration camps when you claim to have had no power to put them Into concentration camps?". And he looked at me and he said “ah so “. NARRATOR Proving Nazi guilt against the Jews, was the allies most important task. Hitler, the inspiration for the barbarity, was dead. So too was Himmler, who had organized the death camps. It made it all the more important to pin personal blame on Goering the top surviving Nazi. The prosecutors had unearthed a key document and it provided a vital breakthrough. COL AMEN Did you have anything to do with the order for the final solution to the Jewish question? GOERING VO Naturlich nicht, selbst Hitler wusste nichts davon! SOUS TITRE Of course not, even Hitler didn't know about it! SONNENFELDT And Amen got Goering to deny any complicity or any knowledge. SONNENFELDT And then he had a copy of the signed order by Goering which ordered Heldrich the chief delegate of Himler to proceed with a Holocaust. and he gave me the German order and he said... COL AMEN Show him that! GOERING VO Also, Sie konnen nicht erwarten, dass ich mich an jeden Fetzen Papier erinnere, der uber meinen Schreibtisch ging! SOUS TITRE Well you can't expect me to remember every little piece of paper that crossed my desk! SONNENFELDT And Goering was now unmasked as a liar and Amen said to him. . . COL AMEN Well this is not just a piece of paper, this is something that resulted in the deaths of millions, don't you remember it? GOERING VO Also, da muss ich mir die Unterschrift ansehen. SONNENFELDT JEUNE Well I have to look at the signature. SONNENFELDT And when he could no longer deny the signature. It was clear that Amen had trapped him Into admitting that he had signed this order to commence the Holocaust. NARRATOR With this evidence implicating Goering in the Nazi's crime against the Jews, the prosecution case was ready. The 19th of October was a pivotal moment in the Nuremberg process the day the prisoners were charged. The man selected to deliver the indictments was a British major, Airey Neave. ANDRUS Are you all set Major? NEAVE I think so sir. I just hope I shan't make a ball of it. ANDRUS I doubt that very much Major Neave. NARRATOR Though only 29, Neave was a wartime legend after his escape from Colditz. He was also a lawyer by profession. My guard brought Goering out first. The prosecution team saw him as their number one criminal. NEAVE Hermann Wilhelm Goering. I am Major Neave, the officer appointed by the International Military Tribunal to serve upon you a copy of the indictment in which you are named as defendant. You are hereby accused as guilty of Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, Crimes against humanity and of a Common Plan or Conspiracy to commit those crimes, all as defined in the Charter of the Tribunal. Hermann Wilhelm Goering. GOERING VO So ist es gekommen. So ist es gekommen. SOUS TITRE So it has come. So it has come. NARRATOR When the indictments were read to the prisoners their status changed from witnesses to defendants. They would now stand trial for their lives. NEAVE ....Do you have any questions? GOERING VO Keine Fragen die Sieger werden immer die Richter sein und die Besiegten die Angeklagten. Ich habe jetzt einen guten Ubersetzer notiger als einen guten Rechtsanwalt. SONNENFELDT JEUNE No questions - The victors will always be the judges and the vanquished the accused. I need a good interpreter now, more than I need a good lawyer. SONNENFELDT ...And that was the first time that it became clear to me that Goering had decided to conduct his own defence. He was now taking charge of his destiny. SENTINEL This way sir. NARRATOR Now the defendants knew the grave charges against them, I was very worried that several would try to commit suicide. I decided to experiment, appointing a psychologist to keep a vigilant eye on the prisoners mental health. My choice was Gus Gilbert a German speaker. He would also be my spy. SENTINEL Goering you have a visitor. GOERING Do you know what you have if you have one German? You have a fine man. If you have two Germans you have a bund. Three Germans... and you have a war! GILBERT I am Capt Gilbert. I have joined the medical team here. I'm a psychologist... NARRATOR Gilbert's secret was that he was a Jew. He didn't want to trade jokes with Hermann Goering. But he took to his task, leading Goering into a discussion about Hitler's suicide a tactic to remind Goering how ignoble an end it was. GILBERT Wasn't committing suicide at the end, the act of a coward? GOERING Not at all. It is unthinkable to imagine the head of the German state waiting in a cell like this to be tried as a war criminal. GILBERT And what about you? Do you fear death? GOERING I have given orders to hundreds of thousands of men to go into battle knowing full well that many would not come back. Why should I, their Reichsmarshall, cringe when called to face my enemy in defeat. I know I am going to die. One Englishman is an idiot, Two a club, but three, an empire! NARRATOR My preoccupation with Goering had led me to take my eye off the ball with the other prisoners. With less than a month to the trial, I was struck by a catastrophe. SENTINEL Take a look Lieutenant. GRAVEN Ley.. Ley! Open it! Shit.... shit! Get a Medic and inform the Colonel... Ley's dead! NARRATOR Despite all my precautions, one of the other defendants, Dr Robert Ley managed to kill himself and escape justice. ANDRUS Jesus Christ! NARRATOR Ley, the former head of the German labor front was a known depressive. Out of sight of the guard in the toilet alcove he had choked himself to death using a towel. Losing defendants would make a mockery of the trial. I redoubled my efforts to beef up security. Cells were searched daily, but still we found contraband. Von Ribbentrop had some pills and a sharp piece of metal. Jodel had a nail and a six inch piece of wire. Keitel had a tube of belladonna tablets, two nails and a screw. Both Hess and Goering were clean. The prisoners knew something was up. I also knew it would be impossible to keep Ley's suicide a secret from them. ANDRUS Assemble the prisoners and tell them I'm going to address them. CORP OF GUARD Sir. ANDRUS And shut this racket up. I have an announcement to make which may be a shock to some of you. Dr Ley, committed suicide in his cell last night.... GOERING It's just as well. I had grave doubts about how Ley would stand up to the trial. ANDRUS Is something funny? Herr Goering. GOERING VO Nein, Herr Kommandant. NARRATOR I knew Goering's game. He was rallying his troops. I told the prisoners there would now be more guards. Instead of one to four cells, I would post one guard on each cell... ANDRUS You will now all be under constant observation... Return the prisoners to their cells. NARRATOR ...I later told a reporter the jail was now suicide proof. SONNENFELDT It's during this period when each prisoner had his own guard right outside his cell door that some of the rumors started that a relationship developed between individual guards and prisoners. GOERING And when did you arrive with us Lieutenant? WHEELIS JEUNE Just a few days ago Herr Goering. GOERING Now where do I recognize that accent? Ah yes those Hollywood cowboy films. WHEELIS JEUNE I'm from Texas Sir... Herr Goering. GOERING I've heard there's good hunting in Texas. Do you like to hunt Lieutenant? WHEELIS JEUNE Yes, Herr Goering. GOERING Well it's my passion too. I bet you didn't know that one of my titles is Germany's chief gamekeeper. WHEELIS JEUNE No Sir... GOERING I have spectacular shooting on my estate at Karinhall. Too bad I can't show you Lieutenant? WHEELIS JEUNE Wheelis, Herr Goering. Lt Wheelis. WHEELIS My father's passions were... hunting and hunting, and hunting and football. He loved both of them... We always had a hunting dog, usually one that he would drag me around with him. He liked that. He liked to go pheasant hunting. He liked to go deer hunting. Over In Germany he would hunt wild boar. GLENNY …He was from Texas and we used to call him Tex and he was very friendly with Goering and Goering could be charming If he wanted to be. He could be the friendliest man In the world and he probably picked Wheelis. NARRATOR After Ley's death, I couldn't afford another suicide. I needed as much insight into the prisoners mental health as I could get. My psychologist Gilbert set out to create a character profile of each defendant using a string of the latest psychological tests. GILBERT I'd like you to look at the list of objects for one minute. Try to memorise as many as you can...Then repeat them back to me... He did well and by the end of the memory test, he was showing-off like an egotistical schoolboy. Well, you have the highest rating among the defendants. GOERING Phooh! That's nothing against these clowns. Come on, give me another one. A harder one.... NARRATOR Gilbert reported back some very interesting facts about Goering. GILBERT ....He said in 1919 he had an appointment with some friends to go to join the Freemasons. While waiting for them, a pretty blonde passed by and recognised him. He was a ww one pin up and he picked her up. He never got round to joining the Freemasons and if he had, it would have been impossible for him to join the Nazi party. GOERING So I'm here today because of some beautiful blonde. GILBERT Sir, in my opinion Goering is an amoral opportunist. NARRATOR I believed Goering was a deeply manipulative, determined man, happy to exploit anything that came his way. It made him unpredictable and dangerous. With the trial about to start, I sensed a growing air of excitement as the world waited to see how Goering would now play his accusers? NARRATOR On the morning of November 20th, the atmosphere in my jail and the courthouse was electric. With the attention of the world centered on the city of Nuremberg, the 21 most senior surviving Nazi's were going on trial. I insisted the accused should be smartly turned out. Suits and uniforms had been carefully pressed. Trouser belts and ties were given out and retrieved at the end of each day. They were potential suicide weapons. NARRATOR The historic trial was going to be filmed and recorded and because of the bright film lights in the courtroom, dark glasses were also given to the defendants. I told a reporter - the men were ready to face justice. CRONKITE Seeing these people In the dock, all 21 of them right there...Goering and Hess, Ribbentrop, the top people, we had known a lot about... And here were the people who had committed these terrible crimes. We were only oh I don 11 know, 25, 30 feet from them - from the dock, our press seats. And we were looking right down the throats of these arch criminals of all time and I just - I wanted to take some personal vengeance...and the only thing I had available was the possibility of spitting I guess... Rather Inelegant Isn't It? NARRATOR All the 21 Nazi's pleaded not guilty. The courtroom then fell silent as Justice Robert H Jackson stepped up to make the his historic opening address. JACKSON ...That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury, stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid reason... NARRATOR Jackson's opening statement was magnificent… if it hadn't been a court of law, some of us would have applauded. I felt the weight of responsibility of this epic trial. I needed my staff to maintain their standards of vigilance and discipline, particularly with Goering. SAMULEVITCH Several times I had him to take to Interrogation or to the court room. And at that time he was jovial and asking where are you from and how long you been In the service and things like this, and. I always felt that he was trying to find out for his benefit about the different people. GOERING Do you know the difference between a German and an Englishman? WHEELIS JEUNE No, Herr Goering .. GOERING I will tell you. A German has a soft heart but a hard hand. An Englishman has a soft hand but a hard heart. WHEELIS JEUNE How are you finding the trial? GOERING I have the best seat in the house. WHEELIS My father was one of the most affable gregarious accepting people. And so I don't think he would hold it against someone, whatever they'd done, dealing with them face to face. NARRATOR Lieutenant Jack Wheelis had a commanding presence. He was a cut above the average gi. I had high hopes for him. I didn't know that Goering did too! WHEELIS JEUNE Herr Goering, a guard has brought the book you requested from the library. GOERING Thank you, Lieutenant. WHEELIS JEUNE There's one more thing. There's an army photographer here today. Do you mind if he takes your picture? GOERING Since it's you, Lieutenant, it's alright with me... Why don't you join me? PERSICO Goering goes after Tex Wheelis like a politician after a voter eh. Goering had this knack of winning the confidence of the American staff, for example he would say to some GI how are they treating you? how are you rations? The kinds of things that a good officer would ask of his men. And the one who seems to be taken In most Is Tex Wheelis. NARRATOR During the fall months of 1945, the prosecution team brought witness after witness to testify to the unspeakable deeds of the men seated in the dock. One, was General Erwin Lahousen of German Intelligence. He gave evidence on the brutal orders that Soviet commissars should be shot without trial. He also testified to Goering's order for the final solution of the Jewish question. He was a star witness and deeply damaging to Goering. Faced with the uncomfortable truth Goering became furious and swore across the dock at Lahousen, calling him a traitor! SENTINEL Prisoner Goering - Attention! Colonel Andrus. ANDRUS Goering you are lucky not to be held in contempt of court. You will go without food, except for bread and water for the weekend and you will not be allowed out to exercise. GOERING Colonel, please let me spend a few minutes outside each day? ANDRUS Request denied. That is all. DR LATTIMER They were bound to clash and they did, they clashed all the time. But Goering was not giving an Inch. He was used to ruling the roost as the totally complete boss and for Andrus to come In and take away that authority was very Irritating for him. NARRATOR The trial appeared to be having an unexpected effect on Goering. As the evidence built against him in court, he was becoming more confident, even brazen! And in the prison, though I didn't know it, his scheming went unchallenged. WHEELIS JEUNE Open it. GOERING Lieutenant, this is a more pleasant surprise! WHEELIS JEUNE Herr Goering, I've brought you some American tobacco. GOERING This is most kind. WHEELIS JEUNE I couldn't bring food. I could be court marshalled, even this... GOERING I understand. WHEELIS JEUNE Herr Goering, there's one other thing. The photograph taken in the lawyers room. I have a print. I would be very grateful if you would sign it? GOERING Lieutenant Wheelis it would be my pleasure. Why don't you sit? It's a good picture. WHEELIS I recall a nice picture that goering autographed and It said In German, If I remember, 'alsen grosse jaeger von Texas 1 which means simply, to a great hunter from Texas. And I recall my father showing It to me. No I remember that very well. Goering of course was a great hunter and so was my father, and that would have been an easy bond between them. GOERING To the great hunter from Texas. WHEELIS JEUNE Thank you, Sir. GLENNY It was so boring In the prison I said I got to do something to keep my mind occupied. So I decided to collect autographs and the first autograph I got was from Field Marshall Keitel. SAMULEVITCH There was kind of a game going on and everyone was exchanging. We weren't supposed to talk to the prisoners but we did and we got signatures from them, but that was against the rules but a gi is a gi. And I'm sure there's hundreds of these eh signatures of all these prisoners In different places. NARRATOR During the autumn of 1945, one momentous day in the courtroom, remains forever etched in my mind. Goering, Ribbentrop and Hess were laughing enjoying themselves as transcripts of Goering's telephone orders were read out on the day of Hitler's triumphant entry into Vienna. He described it as a lark as if subjugating another nation were a game! But then Goering's posturing in the dock was at last punctured. It was announced to the courtroom that they were going to show motion picture film of Nazi Concentration Camps filmed by the allies as they liberated Europe. HARRIS Up to that time the defendants had had a kind of a - they weren't manifesting any particular worry. They were talking among themselves and sometimes a bit jovial and so forth. When that film was shown the whole atmosphere changed. NARRATOR Schacht turned away and gazed into space; Fritzche turned pale; Keitel took off his headphones and mopped his brow; Hess glared at the screen; CRONKITE It was just ghastly. It was almost more than one could stand. There were people In the press box who were getting up and leaving. I felt that way myself, that you wanted to get up and just be sick. Within the dock among the defendants there was the same reaction. There were tears. Several of them cried openly. NARRATOR ...von Neurath bowed his head, didn't look; Ribbentrop closed his eyes; Frank swallowed hard stifling tears; Streicher kept watching; Speer looked very sad. CRONKITE You were seeing people being assassinated or killed or whatever you call It when you've got a prisoners of this fashion. It was terrible. Small children particularly were the ones that got everybody. Here were these little tots being led Into the gas chambers. Ghastly. NARRATOR As a tractor cleared corpses from Bergen Belson, Keitel and Ribbentrop hung their heads Goering was restless, he lent on the balustrade not watching most of the time. There was sobbing in the courtroom. After two hours the film ends. SONNENFELDT The judges, the prosecutors, the defence lawyers, the defendants - with the exception of Goering and I believe Strelcher - were so shocked and were so taken with this film that court had to be adjourned that day and could not be carried on. HARRIS they realised now how terrible this regime was. You could feel It. Not only on that day but the days that followed. That film really changed the whole atmosphere of the trial The defendants realised the jig Is up. The jig Is up. GOERING Have you come to gloat? GILBERT No Herr Goering. Nein, Herr Goering. GOERING What kind of propaganda was that? It was such a good afternoon too, hearing my conversations as we took Austria and everybody laughing with me...until they showed those awful films. It just spoilt everything! NARRATOR When my psychologist Gilbert told me of Goering's reaction to the atrocity films, even I was shocked by the amorality of the man. It was enough to make one lose one's faith in humanity. But the tables were at last about to be turned on the 'fat man' - with a rebellion in his own ranks. By January 1946 Hermann Goering had spent seven months in my custody. Now, I, colonel Andrus witnessed his first major setback as the trial took a sudden and sensational twist. GOERING VO Verdammt nochmal, Speer! Mir ist es gleich, was der Feind mit uns macht, aber es macht mich krank anzusehen, wie Deutsche sich gegenseitig hintergehen! Ich bin vor Scham fast im Boden versunken! SOUS TITRE Damn you Speer! I don't care what the enemy does to us, but it makes me sick to see Germans double-crossing each other! I nearly died of shame! NARRATOR Albert Speer, one of Hitler's most intimate collaborators had broken ranks. Speer had started out as Hitler's architect and ended up his Minister of War, running German weapons factories with brutal efficiency. But now Speer turned publicly against his former leader. His lawyer dropped the bombshell that he had planned an attempt on Hitler's life. And to save his skin, Speer now disowned the whole Nazi Plan. SONNENFELDT Speer was so explicit In condemning the Nazi rule and Hitler that Jackson, the American prosecutor and certainly the judges were so happy to finally have a witness that condemned the Nazis, that they never got around to asking Speer what his own crimes really were. NARRATOR Stung by Speer's apparent treachery, Goering grasped every opportunity to promote his authority over the other prisoners.... GOERING VO Freunden Sie sich mit dem Gedanken an, dass unser Leben verspielt ist. Wir mussen zusammenhalten und einen Martyrer-Tod sterben. In 50 Jahren wird uns das deutsche Volk als Helden anerkennen... SOUS TITRE Reconcile yourselves, our lives are lost. We must stand together and die a martyr's death. In fifty years time the German people will recognise us as hero's. SENTINEL Goering move on! NARRATOR In the court, at lunch and during the exercise breaks, he bullied his fellow defendants to go down fighting, concealing their guilt. I had to stop Goering in his tracks. ANDRUS Draw up new arrangements. I don't mind how you split them up, but from now on Goering dines alone! GILBERT Yes sir! GLENNY Goering was a little peeved at this because he had to eat by himself now and he was alone and he couldn't talk to these men. But he did Isolate him because that's how much domination he had over the rest of the defendants. DOCTOR PFLUECKER I thought you might need an extra sleeping pill tonight. GOERING VO Thank you Doctor. NARRATOR My actions against Goering were harsh but necessary. But some on my staff became unhappy - among them our German prison doctor, Pfluecker. He was no Nazi and had so far served me loyally. DOCTOR PFLUECKER The new lunch plan... it's shameful. Good night Reichsmarshall. WHEELIS JEUNE I've come to say how sorry I am about this new arrangement. GOERING Let's not talk of the petty rules of petty men... I am glad you have come because this time Lieutenant, I have a gift for you. WHEELIS JEUNE Herr Goering, I... GOERING Where I'm going I won't need it. Do you have access to the baggage room? WHEELIS JEUNE Sometimes, it depends on the duty property officer. GOERING Well next time you do. Look in my suitcase, number 3. There is a wristwatch engraved with my name. I would like you to have it. NARRATOR The trust I had placed in some of my men proved misguided. To my great regret I didn't know the extent to which Goering was manipulating my guards with his charm and his gifts. DR LATTIMER One day I noticed that Wheells was wearing a beautiful watch which was a very expensive chronometer and It has his name on the back… And he was kind of a little bit braggy and bragged about his close attachment with Goering, which was true enough, except that he wasn't supposed to be wearing something that was signed over by signature in the baggage room. WHEELIS I went up to him and said daddy, that wasn 't always your watch was It, I mean did someone else ever wear that. I remember saying something to that effect, and he said no. And I said well where did you get It? And he said, oh a friend gave It to me and he had this kind of quite smile and went back to reading his paper, so, that satisfied me. . .He certainly never made any attempt to hide It and wore the watch In Germany, on duty. NARRATOR On the 13th of March 1946, after four months listening to the prosecution evidence, Goering stepped up to present his defense. HARRIS He was a leader of the philosophy remember. Goering was an architect of this whole thing. He Is not a follower. He was not one who came on. He was with Hitler from the very beginning. . .And he made no effort to try to excuse his participation. He was quite frank and open about his leadership. NARRATOR Goering spoke for three days, celebrating in great detail his role in the rise of the Nazi regime. He was utterly unrepentant. He made no apologies or evasions. The courthouse was stunned. CRONKITE There was an annoyance on the part of our attorneys at his attitude. His dominance....His trying to embarrass them with his testimony as to how great the Nazi state really was and that they just didn't understand that. He was challenging them at all times. He was the star ! GLENNY Goering Is the biggest man In here. But he always gave me dirty looks so I was a little afraid to ask him for his autograph. After a while It finally dawns on me. I said wait a minute - what Is the man going to do, I'11 ask him? The only thing he can say is no ! GLENNY So I went up to Goering's cell and I believe I said Hermann which Is a mistake you know, don't ever call Goering, Hermann. Hermann your autograph so he turns around like that and he 's giving me this dirty look as usual and I can still remember It was going through my head I says he's not going to give me his autograph he 1 s not you know the way he 1 s looking he 1 s just staring. I was just about ready to pull back he comes over grabs the paper and the pen and signs his name. GOERING In fifty years time this will be valuable! GLENNY In 50 years this will be valuable, that's the only conversation I've ever had with Hermann Goering. That's the only time I ever spoke to him. NARRATOR Goering's spirited defense of Nazism had shaken the courtroom. It was all the more important that in his cross examination, Justice Jackson should steal back the initiative and nail Goering for his crimes. PERSICO A great deal hung on this, the feeling was that If Jackson Is able to demolish Goering then this will reflect on the failure of all of the other defendants to present an honourable face. It doesn't happen that way ! HARRIS Goering was rather proud of the fact that he had established the concentration camps and he didn't deny that this was a tool for establishing control over the people If you're going to have a dictatorship....But then as Jackson proceeded with his cross examination Goering started making speeches… And this more or less destroyed Jackson 's plan of showing through this witness just how this tyranny was established. NARRATOR Goering's lengthy digressions infuriated Jackson who wanted simple yes or no answers. But in the interests of justice, Judge Lawrence overruled Jackson and Goering was able to wriggle off the hook. CRONKITE My feeling was - that Jackson was not very good at cross examination And here he was against one of the sharpest characters that anybody had every been asked to put on trial I suppose... Goering won the day as It were. NARRATOR It was a black day for the allies. The other defendants, buoyed by their leader, treated Goering like a conquering hero. But the prosecution still had one ace in the deck. The following morning a little known Scottish attorney, cleverly, turned it round. David Maxwell-Fyfe. cross examined Goering on the brutal execution of 50 raf airmen. Their murder went against all the rules of war - and it was Goering's achillies' heel. PERSICO This tests Goering's honor, that this happened while he was chief of the German air force. He tries to wiggle off the hook, tries to maintain that he didn't know this happened, this was foolish on the face of It. And by pursuing that before Britishers, many of whom knew personally some of these executed airmen… Goering looks hopelessly guilty. NARRATOR After ten months of hearings Justice Jackson presented his final summation - a speech that would live forever with all who heard it. ANDRUS It is your duty to yourselves, to posterity and to the German people to face today with dignity and manliness. I expect each of you to go to that courtroom, hold your head up, listen to your sentence and then retire. I assure you there are people to assist you once you have left the public view. That is all. HARRIS The very first man to be sentenced was Herman Goering. He put on the headphones and he then stood at attention while the - Justice Lawrence made the statement. HARRIS He showed no emotion. He turned and stepped out of the courtroom. NARRATOR Eleven defendants were sentenced to hang. Three were acquitted and seven received prison terms. Hess got life, but Albert Speer was given only 20 years. I sent Gilbert to record their reactions for his profiles. Now more than ever, I feared some might try to cheat the gallows. GOERING Death by hanging! Please let me be alone for a while. WHEELIS JEUNE How are you, sir? GOERING I expected death. It is better than a life sentence. Those who get life, never become martyrs. WHEELIS JEUNE I'm sorry... Is there anything you need? Tobacco, fruit? GOERING There is one thing. Amongst my baggage there is a small briefcase. I would like to give this to my lawyer as a thank you for his many months work. Inside, you will find a jar of cream. This for my skin and I would be grateful for it. And there should also be a pair of fine white leather gloves. These I would like you to have. Do you think you might be able to visit the baggage room again? WHEELIS JEUNE Herr Goering, you do have one piece of good fortune today. I have just been appointed duty property officer. I have a key. WHEELIS My father.. was not Interested In power, not Interested In control not Interested In rank... So as far as him being naive and being manipulable, by getting something from the baggage room I'm sure that could easily happen, easily. NARRATOR But there was nothing simple or naive about Goering. He was preparing for the end game and had one final victory in sight. In early October 1946, I colonel Andrus allowed the Nazi wives to visit their condemned husbands. Emmy Sonneman a former actress was Goering's second wife. She was mother to Goering's only child, a daughter, Edda. In November 1938, just 10 months before war broke out, Edda was christened. Her godfather was Adolf Hitler. Emmy did not bring Edda on this last visit, believing it too much for the child. GOERING VO Begreift Edda, was Vati heute passieren wird? SOUS TITRE Does Edda understand what is going to happen to daddy? NARRATOR Emmy pleaded with me to let her hold her husband's hand. I was sorry to refuse. But any contact was one more chance to pass a suicide weapon. GOERING VO Scatz, ich kann dir eins versprechen. Sie werden mich nicht erhangen! SOUS TITRE Sweetheart, one thing I assure you. They will not hang me! NARRATOR Emmy left carrying the secret of Goering's coded message. There were now only a few days to the executions and for my psychologist Gilbert, to complete his psychological profile. GOERING How will you think of me when I'm gone? After all our talks and psychological tests, have you learnt anything? GILBERT I've learnt a great deal, Herr Goering. NARRATOR Gilbert took up Goering's invitation. He reminded him of the ink blot test he'd conducted months before. For Gilbert, this test had revealed a lot about Goering. For the first and last time, Gilbert now told Goering what he believed his months of study had shown. GOERING Tell me, for example, what did your card games teach you? GILBERT If you mean the ink blot test... GOERING Yes, that one! GILBERT You betrayed yourself with a gesture during that test. Do you remember the card with the blood red spot? You tried to flick it off with your finger as though you thought you could wipe away the blood with a little gesture! You've been doing the same in the trial, taking off your headphones or averting your eyes whenever the evidence of your guilt becomes too unbearable. And you did the same in the war too, drugging the atrocities from your mind. You didn't have the courage to face it. That is your guilt. You are a moral coward! GOERING Out! GILBERT It's alright, I'm leaving. GOERING Your psychological bullshit is meaningless! NARRATOR The trial had given Goering the stage on which to trumpet his role in the Nazi cause. What he had omitted to tell us about were his final years of failure... A failure that must have haunted him and a clue as to why this man had retreated to a private life of drugs and delusion. Goering had been Hitler's golden boy with his blitzkreig tactics in Poland and the Low countries. But it was Goering's prized Luftwaffe that had then failed to beat the RAF in the battle of Britain. It was Goering's failure to build a long-range bomber that crippled the German war effort and it was Goering's Luftwaffe that failed to relieve the trapped German army at Starlingrad. This was the turning point which heralded eventual Nazi defeat. SENTINEL Time for your shower fatso! NARRATOR After that Goering was nothing! NARRATOR Goering's final disgrace came at the very end of the war. With Hitler cut off in his bunker, Goering declared himself leader of the Third Reich. When Hitler learned this, he called him a traitor and ordered that Goering and his wife and child be executed. It was then that the fallen Reichsmarschall turned himself in to the Americans. GLENNY The only one that had the key Is the officer that was In charge at night and Wheelis was In charge. He was there quite a few days before hangings. NARRATOR Two weeks passed slowly for the eleven condemned men. Several wrote appeals to the Allied Commission, to President Truman, and to the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. All asked for mercy. All were rejected. Goering also made a special plea. ANDRUS Goering. It is my duty to inform you that your request to face a firing squad was considered by the Tribunal, but rejected. GOERING It's just as well, I hear the Americans are pretty poor shots! SAMULEVITCH From the rumors going around In the guardhouse, he wanted to be shot and not hung like a common criminal. He felt that he should have this privilege as a soldier1s death. And of course he wasn't given that choice as I understand. GOERING Thank you Lieutenant. Such a prize! You'll look very fine. WHEELIS JEUNE I dare say I will, sir. GOERING Now, will you be able to give this gift to my lawyer. WHEELIS JEUNE I'11 see to it Herr Goering... You have a friend in Tex Wheelis. GOERING I know. WHEELIS My father wasn't so out of It that he wouldn't have known what Goering did, I mean obviously he sat through these trials. I think you know genuinely he had some regard for him, In spite of Goering's history. GOERING Goodbye Lt Wheelis. WHEELIS JEUNE Goodbye Herr Goering. SENTINEL Hurry up! ANDRUS The executions will take place after midnight tonight. Up until then everything must appear normal. ANDRUS I want the condemned to know only at the very last moment that their time has come. The longer they have to meditate, the worse it will be. SENTINEL Hey... Hurry Up! ANDRUS The men will be woken at 11.45pm. They will dress, be offered a last meal and then taken to the gymnasium, where the executions will take place. Not a word I have said in this conversation is to be repeated to anyone. Understood. DOCTOR PFLUECKER Yes sir. NARRATOR The secret that the condemned would be hung in the prison gym was known only to the Commission, myself and one or two others. I had arranged for the guards basketball practice to go ahead as usual. I hoped their noisy game would drown out the sound of building the gallows. GOERING Is it tonight Doctor? DOCTOR PFLUECKER Let's just say this night might prove very short. SENTINEL Hey. No talking. DOCTOR PFLUECKER Just letting him know everything's fine! PERSICO Well Its as clear as a bell to Goering what this means. And the conclusion that we can draw Is that probably Goering at some point had confided to Dr Pflucker that I have the means to end my life here. All I need to know Is when Its going to happen. PERSICO Goering on the last afternoon of his life penned three letters, one was to colonel Andres saying that he had, had cyanide In his possession all the while he was Incarcerated. Another was to the allied control council to which he brazenly says you're not going to hang me… And the third was a letter to his wife, very affectionate letter, In which he says again they have mistreated me, they had no jurisdiction over me, they're exercising their victors vengeance. But I will cheat them Instead. NARRATOR The world's press had gathered in Nuremberg for the final deliverance of justice against the Nazis. I sent out official notice that the executions would take place that night. They would be observed by official witnesses and a few selected reporters. GILBERT Sir, the witnesses are ready to be briefed. HARRIS It was a tragic night for Germany and for the world actually. It marked the end of the, of perhaps the most criminal regime In the history of the world and It was a, It was a time not to celebrate but to be regretful that mankind had fallen to such a low level In the 20th century. SENTINEL JOHNSON Lights out Goering Bedtime! SENTINEL JOHNSON There's something wrong with Goering! Get a medic. Quick. Hurry! SAMULEVITCH Harold Johnson was on the guard duty at the time and called out. And of course It wasn't very long before everybody In the guardroom knew that Goering committed eh suicide. And of course colonel Andrus come running In there and was jumping around like a rooster... NARRATOR Less than two hours from the hangman's noose, Goering outsmarted me, taking back control of his fate. GILBERT Let the Colonel through. NARRATOR By the time I arrived in his cell, Goering was already dead. His face concrete grey. With one eye open, he appeared to be winking. Even in death it seemed Goering tried to mock me. GILBERT It was cyanide sir. The glass vial was inside. And there's this. It's addressed to you. I believe it's a suicide note, Sir. ANDRUS Tell the Corporal of the Guard to wake the condemned men. NARRATOR Somehow, I had to carry on. This longest of long nights was only just beginning. I still had to deliver a further ten men to their maker... When it was over the deceased were photographed with the noose and a sign. They made posters that were sent all over Germany to show people that the Nazi leaders were gone. Goering's corpse was dressed and laid out with the others for his final photograph. SONNENFELDT There's no question in my mind that his suicide was Intended basically to thumb his nose at the tribunal and to rob the judges, the prosecutor and the allies of the pleasure of hanging him. His suicide was his final act of defiance. NARRATOR The exact details of how Goering got the cyanide can never be proven. But over the years, I learned that some of those close to my guard Jack Wheelis were pretty sure what happened. GLENNY I believe that Jack Wheelis had something to do with his procuring this capsule. And chances are he knew what he was doing I'm pretty sure. That's my opinion. WHEELIS I think I could guess this though, that If It hadn't have been for my father It wouldn’t have happened. Goering would have just hung. NARRATOR For the allies, the eleven month trial, had been seeking to show the evils of Nazism. The headline they wanted when the condemned were executed, was Justice Triumphs at Nuremberg. The headline they got, was Goering Cheats the Gallows. It hurt to lose Goering at the last. CRONKITE I didn't query him about It. Obviously too touchy a point to bring up to a man who I 'm sure was terribly unhappy and embarrassed by this last minute failure. JOHN ANDRUS I suppose It haunted my dad's subconscious. I know when he was dying of leukaemia he was under a lot of, sedatives. And my brother and I were sitting at the deathwatch for him., and he woke up and I guess he had been dreaming and he was near his own death, and I think that might have triggered It, I don 't know but he said he had to get up out of bed and go and report to the commission. ANDRUS I must inform the commission Goering has committed suicide! NARRATOR The press vilified me for losing Goering. But I did the best I could and that's the way the world shakes down sometimes. Goering was proven guilty and he was dead. What happened did not detract from the importance of what we had achieved at Nuremberg - that for future generations it would be an international crime to wage aggressive war. HARRIS We did establish that principle at Nuremberg. It's the greatest thing we did at Nuremberg. It's a thing that will save the world... because It provides the basis for peace In the world and no nation can engage In aggressive war any longer. NARRATOR In the years that followed, I reflected on my time with Goering. I had always thought us, adversaries - Now I came to a deeper understanding that how he had behaved at Nuremberg had very little to do with me. With Hitler gone, the trial became a stage for Goering's last great performance - his final chance to play the Fuhrer. In his deluded eyes he believed he could be someone the German people would look up to: a great figure in history; like Caesar, Alexander and Hannibal. The clues were there even in his suicide note. GOERING I will not facilitate execution of Germany's Reichsmarschall by hanging! For this reason, I have chosen to die like the great Hannibal." NARRATOR Goering was both clever and fortunate in bringing about his own death. But I still believe his suicide was the act of a coward, masquerading as a defiant act of vanity. With his final roll of the dice Goering had once more failed to take responsibility for his hideous crimes against humanity.